


If a woman looks back, she is lost

by A_Dragon_Is_Not_A_Slave



Category: Captain America (Movies), Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, The reader is from Game of Thrones verse, They're also Valyrian, Y'all can decide skin colour tho, and the reader is a faceless man, and the reader speaks with indefinite pronouns so yay, cos the reader can change gender and sex, so it's gonna have gay stuff as well as straight stuff in it, so white hair and purple eyes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 01:02:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6931555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Dragon_Is_Not_A_Slave/pseuds/A_Dragon_Is_Not_A_Slave
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She should never have accepted that fucking money. Never in a million years. She did not know anything about this world or the people inhabiting it, yet she chose to do something remarkably stupid.</p><p>She tried to kill Nick Fury. Of all people.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Woman is Released

“A woman will complete a man’s request.” (Y/N) stated, her violet eyes stoic and unyielding. She was a woman of another world, almost completely dissimilar to our own.

“Good. Your money will be delivered after the assignment is complete.” (Y/N) snorted.

“Of course, but make sure that a woman will receive her money or else she will come for you and she will make sure that you’ll not like it when she does."

The man, Alexander Pierce, sneered at her but promptly left the slum she called a flat, not to bother her until she had done her duty to him.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She should never have accepted that fucking money. Never in a million years. She did not know anything about this world or the people inhabiting it, yet she chose to do something remarkably stupid.

She tried to kill Nick Fury. Of all people.

She failed. But she was also successful. After all, she’s still alive isn’t she? But, she was captured in the process. She is trapped with the glowing man and the red woman now. (Y/N) sighed in her cell.

The metal walls encased her body and the musty smell of old linen pervaded the room. The air was stifling and unforgiving. She heard footsteps and suddenly, the door began to clank open with the distinct sound of metal scraping concrete. They knew she wouldn’t try anything, where would she go? Would she even be able to survive living on Earth?

“Well, this one, right here, is the strangest little thing. She speaks weird English and refers to herself using indefinite pronouns.” The glowing man said, leading a blond man inside her prison.

(Y/N)’s mouth quirked upwards “A man doesn’t understand that a woman speaks common tongue, no? In the Lorathi dialect? And a woman is not little, a woman is strong.”

He rolled his eyes “My name is not ‘a man’, my name is Tony Stark. I bet you don’t even know who I am, right?”

(Y/N) raised her eyebrow “A man is right. Does a man, by any chance, feel that he is above me? Why should a woman know a man’s name?”

The blond man sighed in exasperation “I don’t think you’re going to get through to her Tony. She’s speaking strangely. Errm, Lorathi?”

“God knows what it is. She says she comes from Lorath which is nowhere apparently and that she is a follower of some religious cult or whatever. It doesn’t matter, she tried to kill Fury and accepted money off of Pierce. So, we have a little bit of background info on her and now we need a little bit more.” Tony breathed heavily through his nose in anger.

Crouching down to her face level, knees clicking and resonating in the cell, he produced a small cigarette and lighter. Steve’s eyes widened “Do you really think that’s a good idea? She could set you on fire!”

“She never has and never will. I’m her primary source of tobacco, she won’t do shit unless she decides she wants to take up vaping.”

(Y/N) gave a short bark of laughter.

“A man knows his strengths. Vaping is for pretentious arseholes.”

Tony nodded in what seemed to be agreement. He shared a quick look with Steve and nodded.

“So, you need to tell us some things.”

“Mhmm.”

“There is a man, out there, who you were supposed to work with, correct?”

“Yes.”

“This man is called James Buchanan Barnes. He’s also known as the Winter Soldier and we need to know where he could be. So tell us, where is he?”

“A woman does not know where the handsome man went. But a woman does know that he went in search of the past.”

Tony raised his brows and pursed his lips. Steve butted in.

“Could you perhaps give us some location? If you can we’ll take you home.”

Tony protested “Cap, outside, now!”

“What?!? Bu- “

“No, no buts outside, now!”

Tony ushered him outside and immediately (Y/N) heard an argument. She sighed and placed her Marlboro to her mouth, light it and inhaled. She examined her (S/C) hands and nails whilst the two men fought. She flung a silver braid out of her face as she smoked. She wanted a mirror, she enjoyed looking at herself in the mirrors they had here. You could see so clearly in them.

She knew these men didn’t understand her. Or where she came from or the struggles that she faced to even remain alive in these foreign lands. She had been called a ‘mutant’ which she assumed meant that she had some kind of deformity in the eyes of these strangers. A woman was what she was and could not help it, so this does not matter to a woman.

She licked her lips as the smoke rose out of her mouth. The men marched back in again. But this time, she was the one who spoke first.

“A woman thanks a man for his kind request. But, a woman knows that if she looks back, she is lost. Either to this world or her one. A woman has lived in many places, she will get used to this place. A woman believes that your friend went to another continent entirely.”

“Got an idea about which continent?” The blond man asked.

(Y/N) shrugs and smoked the last drag of her cigarette. “Perhaps the one where he worked most often before he remembered his name.”

“Europe?” Tony asked, high pitched in curiosity. (Y/N) nodded. Steve sighed in relief, he motioned her forwards. She held out her hands and metal hit concrete. Her shackles were on the floor and red marks revealed themselves on her wrists.

“A woman thanks a man. What is a man’s name?”

“Steve Rogers. And what is a woman’s name?” He smiled politely.

“A woman’s name is (Y/N) (L/N).”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She was a prisoner still. Although the shackles were off, she was still a prisoner. They kept her in a strange place, made of glass, metal and concrete. She could feel eyes staring at her regardless of whether she was still or not. It was the girl who was staring.

She was a powerful girl but a girl nonetheless. (Y/N) had seen some of what she could do and what she can do is most likely considered unnatural by the outside world. But, that doesn’t mean she would let her keep staring at her, after all why would a Faceless Man be scared of death?

“A woman can feel a girl’s eyes staring at her. What does a girl see that makes her so interested in the woman?”

“Your hair is…odd.”

“And so is a girl’s ability create red things out of thin air. But a woman does not stare at the girl for what she can do.”

“I am sorry; I’ve never seen anyone quite like you before. Where do you come from again?”

“A woman comes from Lorath, one of the 9 free cities of Essos. A woman comes from Braavos, another free city of Essos which is home to the House of Black and White where the Faceless Men live. A woman is descended from the blood of Old Valyria which is why her hair is silver and her eyes purple.”

“A woman cannot speak proper English.” A mocking tone came from the kitchen. Tony Stark came out from the corner of her eye.

“A man is a child and thus will be referred to as a boy from now on.”

A bark of laughter from Steve erupted from the chair seated next to her. “She got you there Tony!”

Tony rolled his eyes “So, Essos. Nice city?”

“No, nice continent. Braavos is better than Lorath as the Faceless Men are stronger in number there.”

“Faceless Men?”

“Yes. This woman is one.”

“But you’re not a man.”

(Y/N) snorted. She shook her head rapidly and all femininity was swept from her face…into a man’s face.

“A woman is now a man. A man is part of the Faceless Men.” A deep voice replied. The face that replaced (Y/N)’s was distinctly…Spanish? Or what could be considered Spanish by this world’s terms. Tight, thick black curls coated his scalp and forest green eyes glared into Stark’s brown ones. Tanned olive skin contrasted against the white button down shirt that (Y/N) had been wearing.

It seemed like all the air in the room had disappeared for a moment. “How the hell did you do that?” Stark demanded.

“It is a gift from the Many Faced God. A woman wears the face of a Dornish man, he is beautiful, no?” (Y/N) smirked.

“Yes.” Steve whispers quietly to himself.

“How did you do that?” Stark says, this time through bared teeth.

“The Dornish man suffered greatly before the Many Faced God granted him the mercy of death. He was a cripple from the waist down and his hands were ruined from ship building. Another man helped the Dornish man end his pain. A woman then took the face of the man to use for herself as it was a gift from one friend to another.”

Stark breathed angrily through his nose.

“This is disgusting. Turn back.”

“The boy cannot understand why the woman would do such a thing. Can he?”

“No, he cannot.”

“A woman took the face because the Dornish man gave her his face in exchange for mercy. Therefore, the woman had the consent of the man to remove his face and give him a new life to be anything he wished.”

“I don’t really care, this is just disturbing though, please turn back.”

“If the boy is disturbed, then yes, a woman will become herself once more.”


	2. A Woman is A Slave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Days had turned into weeks then into months and there seemed to be no release nor escape. They unshackled her but they did not let her leave, even when Pierce had died they refused to let her leave.

Days had turned into weeks then into months and there seemed to be no release nor escape. They unshackled her but they did not let her leave, even when Pierce had died they refused to let her leave. Not even with the Vision who was far powerful than she was. In fact, they all were but they didn’t seem to realise it.

(Y/N) was an assassin by trade. A damn good one for sure. She had a couple of things going for her apart from the face changing and the skills that generally came with being an assassin. But, she had almost been bested by a handsome man with long hair. He looked similar to Jaqen H’ghar, her old mentor.

Of course, he didn’t look exactly like him, just some of his features were similar to him. He carried a weapon with him she had never seen before in her life. The Avengers, that’s what they called themselves don’t ask her why, said that it was called a gun. Apparently you could get more than one type of gun but she did not care what model it was.

She wanted to learn to shoot. She went up against Nick Fury with two swords. Admittedly, she survived longer than what she should have in that particular situation but still. There were many things she did not understand in this world, but she needed to learn in order to survive this world.

She needed a gun.

So, she went where she thought she could get one. Under lock and key, she realised, was the red woman’s gun. It was behind a glass cabinet, taunting her with its metallic sheen.

“What are you doing?”

(Y/N) turned swiftly around. How the hell did she not see the red woman coming? 

“How did the red woman sneak up behind the woman?”

“Answer my question.”

“Looking at the red woman’s gun. Now, answer the woman’s question.”

“Stop referring to yourself as ‘the woman’, it’s odd. Apparently, I have better training than you do.”

“A woman will always refer to herself as ‘the woman’ because a woman is no one.”

The red woman raised her eyebrow. “No one?”

“The woman has been no one since she was a babe. She will always be no one as she serves the Many Faced God.” Was the almost stoic reply but it gave way to sadness.

Natasha’s face gave some sympathy. “How long have you done this?”

“A woman has been no one since she was 4 years old. She is now (Y/A). It has been this way since she was sold.”

“You’re a slave?”

“No. The woman is an exiled refugee.”

“Exiled from where?”

“From the lands where she was born. A woman does not wish to speak about this anymore. If she looks back, she is lost. Like her brother was.”

Natasha nodded solemnly. “I will teach you to use a gun. I suppose it will give you some freedom.” She understood.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Y/N) was good, better than good actually. She was superb but not excellent. Natasha taught her not just how to use a gun, but how to use a phone and a laptop as well.

She grasped technology quicker than Steve did and seemed to use it more too. But Natasha was disturbed. Disturbed at her story, disturbed that she could change into another person’s face. It was completely unnatural. True, she herself once mimicked the appearance of another woman’s face but she didn’t take her face then wear it as a mask.

“Do you know her story?” Nat asked Tony.

“No, she doesn’t say shit to me about anything unless she has to.”

“She’s a slave and has been a slave since she was 4.”

Tony turned around, gobsmacked. “Why?”

Nat shrugged “She claims that she is an exiled refugee. She could have gotten captured?”

“That is disgusting. And I thought her stealing another person’s face was gross.”

“I don’t understand the culture. But I now understand why she refers to herself as ‘the woman’.”

“Why?”

“Because she is no one. Apparently, the Faceless Men have a nihilist view on life but serve a God called the Many Faced God. They help people commit suicide or they go on assassination contracts to kill people. That is why (Y/N) tried to kill Nick Fury. She only knows how to assassinate people and mummify corpses in order to take their faces. I don’t think she had much of choice. Pierce went after someone who was vulnerable and alone so that it didn’t matter if she died or lived.”

“I still can’t get over the fact that she is basically a slave. Do you think you can get more information on it?”

“Perhaps.”


	3. A Woman Remembers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Backstory.

They weren’t sure how to ask her. None of them were. So they decided to let her tell her story in bits and pieces. They could occasionally, just occasionally, hear her sob in her room. But she sobbed in her sleep. She seemed to remember her past life better whilst she was asleep.

My sweeting, you made this for mother?

Yes, mummy. Look what Ser Arthur gave me!

Wow, that was awfully kind of Ser Arthur, what do say (Y/N)?

Thank you Ser.

(Y/N) woke up in a sweat. She gulped hard and tears blurred her vision. Her rasping breath vibrated in her chest. “Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream” she whispered to herself repeatedly. It was a mantra of hers. She remembered them all at night, their faces, their voices. But she couldn’t remember what was a memory and what was fantasy. Fantasy was how she coped and how she wished things could have been.

She would rather remember what could have been. These Avengers were kind to her, oddly. She wasn’t expecting them to be kind, after all she was a prisoner in their grasp. She lay back on her bed. She was lying in finery and she appreciated it better than almost everyone in the facility. But she did not think herself worthy. She had been no one her entire life, why would no one need finery?

She remembers the House of Black and White at night time. The macabre faces in their allotted holes in the wall, eyeless but all-seeing. Whenever she trained as a child, she always felt them watching her with her stick, getting beaten black and blue with numerous whacks at vary speeds. She remembers the pool of poison, where the statue of the Stranger stood. She remembered the people who drank from it. She remembers making the poison to go into the pool.

A girl was sold at Lorath, to a man named Jaqen H’ghar.

Yes. A girl was sold by her half-brother to a man named Jaqen H’ghar. A girl’s half-brother is now in Pentos according to spies with a girl’s half-sister.

Good. Does a girl remember her half-brother?

Yes. Violet eyes, White hair, Pale skin. A boy of nine years old.  
Whack. 

No, he is not nine years old. He was nine years old when he sold a girl to a slave market in Lorath. How old is a boy now?

A boy is thirteen years old now.

She remembers Jaqen’s nod of approval and grunt.

She remembers that Jaqen beat her several times for calling out her brother’s name in the middle of the night, thinking he was with her, come back to save her from these strangers lurking everywhere in the darkness. (Y/N) always thought of her brother as her brother, not her half-brother. Even to this day she regards him that way.

She just kept it well-hidden whenever she regarded Viserys as her brother. It was not his fault. None of this was his fault. He was nine when he sold her, he thought she would be provided better than what he could provide her with. She was his favourite sibling.

She may not have had the same father as he did but they were still siblings. Aerys thought she was his daughter even though it was obvious she looked nothing like him and everyone could see that. But he was insane and cruel so no one dared say anything against the honour of Queen Rhaella. She knew who her father was and he was better than Aerys. But he was just as dead as Aerys was.

As she grew, she took another surname. She did not want to be called Waters, Blackfyre or Dragon seed. She was not a Blackfyre and didn’t want to be accused of being one either. To her, it mattered that she was a different person even when she was supposed to be no one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I'd make the reader a Targaryen bastard. Basically, reader gets sold into slavery by Viserys and is Rhaella's daughter not Aerys's. Cos I hate him.


	4. A Woman is Upset

She’d heard about Bucky on the news. (Y/N) had managed to understand how to use the TV, flipped through the channels and found his face staring back at hers. She licked her chapped lips nervously for him. She knew what it was like to play toy soldier. 

She’d first met him way back with Pierce. She met with him prior to her assassination attempt on Fury. This war was beginning to become personal to her. This man was broken and shouldn’t be toyed about with like a pawn. It was heart-breaking.

She was becoming more useful every day. She was making herself useful. She knew what she needed to do to make herself better at being ‘modern’ as they called it. She knew her history, she knew about WWI & WWII, Vietnam, Afghanistan. She knew her Geography, Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America. She knew what was essential to know.

She could hear Jaqen’s voice in her head. 

‘What does a girl think she is doing? A girl is doing nothing; a girl must do work. Now.’

He could not control her here. He was a good mentor but he had the qualities of an owner. Because he did, indeed, own her. In law, body and spirit, he owned her. The others, of course, knew that she had a slave background but nothing else really. They did not know about the Faceless Men much. Only a little bit.

She heard footsteps. 

“I am telling you, we need to ally ourselves with the government. We must register ourselves, look at Sokovia! It’s a hell-hole and we made it that way!” 

“Tony, this isn’t a good idea. Look at what happened to S.H.I.E.L.D. We cannot allow that to happen again, seriously that is what can and probably will happen again.”

(Y/N) breathed out an exasperated sigh. “A man and boy are fighting again. What do you think this will accomplish?”

“You keep out of this. This has nothing to do with you!” Tony barked.

“Don’t speak to her like that and this probably will have something to do with her considering she can change her goddamn face!” Steve shouted.

“What is it?”

“The government wants to make sure that people like Tony and I are put under their control, so that we can’t go to places where we may be seriously needed if they don’t want us to go there.” Steve explained.

“Or they’re trying to prevent another major catastrophe like Sokovia.” said Tony, bitterly.

“A woman does not care for politics. But, a woman does care about the man on screen. Bucky Barnes. Where is he?”

“You care about Bucky?” Steve asked with a grin across his face.

“Yes, a woman does care. She met him when she tried to kill Nick Fury. He was very sick when she first met him and he does not look much better.”

“Ah.” Steve whispered.

“What do you know about him?”

“His favourite colour is blue, his favourite food is hot dogs and he looks similar to Jaqen H’ghar.” (Y/N) stated matter-of-factly.

“Jack Huh-what-what?” Tony pulled a confused face.

“Jaqen H’ghar.”

“How the hell do you pronounce that so easily? Who is he?”

“My old mentor.” 

“He taught you how to fight?”

“Yes, after he bought me for 1,000 Braavosi coins.”

“He’s the one who enslaved you?”

“Well, technically, a woman supposes.”

“You suppose he bought you?” Tony blurted out.

“Slavery is outlawed in Braavos and Lorath. You cannot own anyone there as the people who lived there were ex-slaves owned by the Valyrians. A woman was allowed much freedom but the restrictions placed upon her at times were…severe.”

“If you cannot own people in Braavos or Lorath, then how the hell did you get sold?”  
“Slave market in Lorath.”

“You got sold on a slave market that is outlawed? So, you’re basically a black market purchase?”  
“Black market?”

“Tony means that you got sold illegally by a business in order to make a profit.” Steve explained.

“Ah, yes. A woman was sold on the black market by her brother.”

“Your own brother sold you?!?!” Tony screamed.

“Yes.”

“Why would such a sick son of a bitch sell his own sister!?!” Tony exclaimed. Almost out of nowhere, (Y/N)’s hand smacked Tony’s face so hard it knocked him to the floor.

“A woman’s brother was nine years old when he sold a woman. But at the time, he was selling a girl. He could not feed, clothe or look after a girl at the time.” (Y/N) spoke through gritted teeth. 

She spun around on her heel and marched out of the common room.

“I’m not sure if comparing Bucky to a slaver was a good or a bad thing.”


End file.
